2011.02.18

Salad Days in Chiang Mai

Over the last few weeks Dave and I have developed what I would call a deep -- and hopefully abiding -- relationship with a guy who spends most of every day sporting protective eyewear.

We're not talking about a welder here (although some of the materials he handles can be as dangerous as a blowtorch). The safety goggles-wearing dude in question deals in food, not metal.

Much as we had our Fruit Guy in Istanbul, we now have our Somtam Guy in Chiang Mai. He can be found putting pestle to mortar most days of the week behind Warorot market, in a busy alley that runs alongside the impossible-to-miss Guan Yu temple.

We're not the only fans of this papaya pounder. Arrive within an hour either side of lunch and you could be looking at a wait of 30 to 45 minutes. The idle is more than justified by his product. Grab a seat at the "counter" attached to the front of his cart or at one of his red tables and cool your heels with an order of gai yang (grilled chicken) from the stall just down the alley or a cool Chinese sweet soup from the ladies at the cart adjacent his.

While his somtam Tai (our favorite; neither Dave nor I do pickled crab) is excellent, it's this guy's dtam mamuang and sup nawmai that really knock us dead. For the former he peels and shreds the green mango to order, pounding it with dried chilies, sugar, fish sauce, a bit of lime juice and a whiff of bplaa raa. Served topped with peanuts, the salad bears the barest suggestion of sweetness. It's drier than your average pounded salad -- great for wrapping in the the wild pepper leaves he serves alongside.

(Attention to detail here -- each salad comes with a different assortment of fresh leaves and vegetables.)

The fermented bamboo salad is simply out of this world. We adore sup nawmai but let's face it -- the dish can be overpowered by fermented bamboo's funkiness. But this guy ferments his own, and it's a notch above the rest, retaining much pre-pickle bamboo crunchiness and sweetness. The funkiness is a welcome back note in this sup nawmai, a twangy response to a bit of lime-y sourness, toatsed rice nuttiness, and as much heat as you can stand. Eat it with the accompanying mint leaves.

Sup nawmai (fermented bamboo salad)

We've only known our Somtam Guy for three weeks, but we saw each other almost every day. Dave and I knew that our relationship had taken a turn for the serious when our Somtam Guy stopped asking how hot and/or sour we wanted our order. Five chilies in the mango salad, four in the sup nawmai.

We think this might just be a long-term thing.

Somtam guy. From 11am till about 3 or 4, almost every day (his days off are unpredictable). Behind Warorot Market, Gat Luang neighborhood, Chiang Mai. Anything he makes is perfect with an order of grilled chicken from a stall down the lane.

Comments

you labeled the first photo as som tam - i am pretty sure that is soop naw mai. it's definitely pickled bamboo in that bowl. please excuse me if i am incorrect.

you noted that the soop naw mai can be a little overpowering at times - personally i love that aspect of it, but here's a tip - if you can, try it with ground, roasted /toasted rice. it helps round out the flavours and may alleviate some of that funky odor you mentioned.

by the way, thanks for blogging. i really enjoy your posts and photographs. your posts in thailand make my missing home a little easier.

Don't do this to me guys. I want to go back to Chiang Mai again. Your post brought back memories of the joy of discovering the beauty of pairing crunchy salads with curies and rice. Great post as always

thaneda and cee -- you're absolutely right. That's what happens when you send a post to the photographer for captioning. :-)

Thaneda -- I mention toasted rice in sup nawmai in the text. (I LOVE any Thai salad with toasted rice in it!) I also personally don't mind a heavy taste of fermentation, but I think his strikes a really nice balance between funky and fresh. And, you're welcome. Thanks for reading!

David - consider yourself legitimate. Thanks for returning.

Nancie - fantastic! I miss him already. :-)

Kalyan - sorry! Not to mention crunchy salads with grilled meats. Let us know next time you're in Chiang Mai, perhaps we can meet up. Or maybe in India?

Love, love mortar and pestle action.....how about a photo of the tools? Thai motor and pestles are such incredibly beautiful works of art...simple craft from folk art traditions, especially those made of red clay and fired in a wood firing kiln...lots of ash deposit and flame flashed exteriors.

Randy - a little green to balance all the pork you'll encounter. Do visit him!

Hi Linda - Could hardly pull Dave away from the table. We'll have to post our mortar and pestle collection some time. I agree - Thai mortars are exceptionally lovely.

Teri - good observation. Yes, they do.

Will do Andy! Don't know if we'll find ourselves in Bangkok but you never know. Good luck. (

Has anyone reading this tried the Viet pork in coconut water on Andy's blog? TO DIE FOR. We've made it several times.)

Juliette - you'd be very welcome!

Ha. Thanks for the translation WP!

Sunfug - for us it's about flavor. I love fishiness but I find the salt-flavor ratio of pickled crab to be too high. For me it just overpowers the entire dish. And I hate crunching on bits of crab shells as I work my way through a plate of somtam. I think bplaa raa delivers as much bang for the buck in terms of fishiness, with more flavor. That said -- I do have Thai friends who will not eat pickled crab for the reason you mention. If I'm using bplaa raa in the kitchen at home I heat it first, never raw (because of the parasites thing). But crab go in raw so ....
Also -- thank you very much for the kind words about EatingAsia!

R- utterly adore pickled crab- you have taken my back in time w this post- i had a wonderful holiday in Chiang Mai with my parents and had so much pickled crab whilst there. the photo is so beautiful. i also remember the luscious khao soi i had for lunch there w my family, near a tiny mosque, such wonderful memories.